facts in five 

Updated 11/30/2008

2008 WBC Report    

  2009 Status: pending 2009 GM commitment

Paul Bean, MA

2008 Champion

Offsite Links

  

Event History

Year  Champion         Total
1993  Luke Kratz          23
1994  Eric Olin           25
1995  Chuck Foster        24
1996  Luke Kratz          25
1997  Stephanie Greenwood 19
1998  Caleb Cousins       29
1999  Shantanu Saha       17
2000  Randy Cox           31
2001  Aaron Silverman     34
2002  Doug Hoylman        48
2003  Aaron Silverman     43
2004  Doug Hoylman        31
2005  Sean McCulloch      40
2006  Rich Meyer          37
2007  Winton LeMoine      43
2008  Paul Bean           36
        
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Aaron Silverman    FL    03     44
  2.  Doug Hoylman       MD    04     42
  3.  Paul Bean          MA    08     40
  4.  Richard Irving     CA    07     32
  5.  Richard Meyer      MA    08     32
  6.  Randy Cox          SC    03     31
  7.  Winton LeMoine     CA    07     28
  8.  Pitt Crandelmire   MA    02     24
  9.  Eric Brosius       MA    08     24
 10.  Sean McCulloch     OH    05     20
 11.  Shantanu Saha      NY    99     20
 12.  Roderick Lee       CA    07     14
 13.  Rob Winslow        NY    08     12
 14.  Ted Drozd          IL    06     12
 15.  Steve Cameron      PA    00     12
 16.  Francis Spencer    MD    04     10
 17.  Matt Amitrano      VA    08      8
 18.  Debbie Bell        MD    01      8
 19.  Caleb Cousins      ME    01      8
 20.  Sean Cousins       ME    01      8
 21.  James Hopkin       CA    00      8
 22.  Stephany Greenwood MD    99      8
 23.  Ed Kendrick        UK    08      6
 24.  Jason Arvey        VA    06      6
 25.  Gordon Rodgers     PA    05      6
 26.  Roy Pettis         VA    03      6
 27.  Ted Simmons        NJ    07      4
 28.  Robert Cranshaw    RI    05      4
 29.  Frank Cunliffe     PA    05      4
 30.  Luke Kratz         ID    04      4
 31.  Donna Balkan       ON    01      4
 32.  Andy Maly          MD    99      4
 33.  Gordon Elgart      CA    02      1

2008 Laurelists                                              Repeating Laurelists 

Rob Winslow, NY
2nd

Eric Brosius, MA
3rd

Matt Amitrano, VA
4th

Ed Kendrick, UK
5th

Rich Meyer, MA
6th


Past Winners

Luke Kratz, ID
1993, 1996

Eric Olin, CT
1994

Chuck Foster, TX
1995

Stephanie Greenwood, MD
1997

Caleb Cousins, ME
1998

Shantanu Saha, NY
1999

Randy Cox, SC
2000

Aaron Silverman, NJ
2001, 2003

Doug Hoylman, MD
2002, 2004

Sean McCulloch, OH
2005

Rich Meyer, MA
2006

Winton LeMoine, CA
2007

Paul Bean, MA
2008
   

 

 Whether it's called Categories or the old 3M/AH Facts in Five, the quick general knowledge game provides a welcome respite from more serious fare.

 GM Arthur Field continues Richard Irving's role as emcee and researcher of the categories. By eliminating subjective scoring decisions, the game is less controversial.

A Real Trivial Pursuit

36 people played five rpunds of Facts in Five, including past champions Winton Lemoine and Richard Meyer. Once again, there was much humor in the room and lots of funny questions and outrageous responses by the GM. And, again it was proven that a good showing in every puzzle is better than winning just one.

Puzzle 1 challenged players to name symphonic musical instruments, major league baseball team home cities, Oxford University Colleges (somebody said Cambridge!), common bagel flavors and Harry Potter character last names, across the letters c, h, p, s and w. There were roughly 84 correct answers possible for the 25 slots. Matt Amitrano led the pack with 19 correct (the best score for the night), followed closely by Eric Brosius, Englishman Ed Kendrick and Paul Bean.

Puzzle 2 honored the start of the 2008 Olympics with the category of Olympic Host Cities. It was joined by Casinos on the Vegas Strip in 2007, Maryland Counties, Walt Disney Co. feature movies, and nonmetals/metalloids on the periodic table, across a, c, h, p and t. The Hard Rock is not on the Strip and Aladdin's closed in 2006. Eric Brosius knew his elements and Rich Fetzer knew his Disney and Olympics and both scored a 15, followed by Paul Bean with 14.

Puzzle 3 had a historical twist seeking Nazi Field Marshals (no 'von') and Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives along with counties in Scotland, Harry Potter character first names and English Premier League Soccer teams in 2007, across the letters b, l, m, p and r. In soccer, only Liverpool worked for 'L', as Leeds dropped out of the Premier League in 2006 for the very first time. Over half the field was able to name the current Speaker Pelosi, including Larry Lingle, who also knew every Field Marshal. Paul Bean scored a 17, closely followed by Ed Kendrick at 16.

Continuing with a historic and geographical theme, Puzzle 4 sought African capital cities, Asian capital cities and major political party Presidential election losers. These were joined by Beatles Album Titles and, as they lived there: the boroughs of London, across letters h, m, r, s and t. Rob Winslow knew four of five Beatles albums, including 'Meet the Beatles', all the losers, four Asian capitals and three African capitals to score a 17. Rich Fetzer was right behind him with 15, followed closely by Ted Drozd and Andy Latto at 14; Amitrano at 12 and Bean, Meyer and Kendrick at 11.

The final puzzle was a four-minute lightning round with general knowledge categories of baseball 300-game winning pitchers, Disneyworld Magic Kingdom Rides and Attractions, AKC Terrier Dog Breeds, Countries without extradition treaties with the United States and Madonna Album Titles, across letters a, c, m and w. For a twist, the final letter was a wild card of "j, l or p". Winslow pulled this out again with an 11, shared with Eric Brosius. Francis Spencer scored 11, as did Paul Bean, who knew his AKC breeds and pitchers, but not a single Disney ride, and needs to get out more!

The winner was Paul Bean with a total score of 69 of a possible 125 (55.2%). Rob Winslow was hot on his heels with 66, followed by Eric Brosius, garnering team points with a 62 for third. Matt Amitrano racked up a 60 for 4th, Ed Kendrick a 58 for 5th and Rich Meyer a 57 for 6th. My thanks to assistant GM Kate Taillon who helped keep things moving (so we finished in exactly one hour) and then tallied all 180 answer sheets in the wee hours. Next year promises similar fun.

 GM      Arthur Field [3rd Year]  NA 
    arthur-field@charter.net   NA

2008 Preview Page | View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page